Stede Backman
"Maybe, in other life, he would have been a great captain in the Commonwealth's fleet, maybe even an admiral. Still, he made the choice to become a criminal and a murderer and he died as such" -Shu Lin, speaking of Stede Backman- Stede Backman, also known as "King of Pirates", "High Admiral of the Stars", "Grandpa Stede" and "One-eye Stede" was a known pirate lord during the first decade of the 23rd century, decades before the creation of the Commonwealth. Its short, yet bloody "reign" lasted during the years known as the "Second golden age of piracy", an age which ended after being killed by admiral Shu Lin, first leader of the newly-born Task Force manticore. Aside for his cruelty and shrewd nature, Stede was known for having a long list of descendants. Depending on the source, the numbers change, with some saying Stede had nearly 35 grandchildren, while others go as far as to push the number up to a 100. Trusting only in his family mebers, Stede gave high ranking positions to those sons and grandsons who showed their worth and only trusted his plans and insecurities to some members of his family. Ironically, it would be his own family who would, in the end, ended up betraying him as an unknown sickness slowly began to affect Stede's mind, a factor which ended up with him accepting battle against the far superiors guns and ships of Task Force Manticore. A long and unknown life Stede? Later Commonwealth data banks still have trouble finding out Stede's true identity, a factor not helped by the pirate's love for taking different identities and plastic surgery to confuse those hunting down from him. Due to his knowledge when it came to leading crew members and moving across the most dangerous corners of space, many believe that Stede was once the captain of a merchant vessel before he decided to become a thief and murderer. Even the pirate's own sons and daughters did not know about his past, as Stede shared very little of his previous life to "protect" them. First attacks Unlike the pirate lords and princes of the late 23rd century, there was not one ship in Stede's pirate fleet which was ever larger than an Akula class corvette. Indeed, even the largest of his ships were light vessels built for swift attacks and surprise boarding actions. Like the pirates of the 17th and 18th centuries back on Earth, Stede seldom tried to destroy the ships he attacked, instead taking their goods or adding them to his fleet after killing, kidnapping or forcing the crew to join him. While other pirates had flashy yet short careers, Stede seldom bothered to face the core of the Commonwealth's navy. Instead, he often worked with his sons and daughters in different fleets, attacking from so many places at once, the security fleets of Ortus were unable to do anything to stop them. Rising star Standing up to 2 meters in height, Stede was a giant of a man, big-bellied and able to survive blows which would have killed a normal human (at least, that is what legends say). At one time, he had nearly 20 vessels under his command, making him the most dangerous and strongest captain in human space. Some say he even planned on creating an empire of his own outside the influence of Ortus. Even as admiral Shu Lin stepped out to finally deal with the pirate menace, Stede continued his adventures, his attacks growing bolder and bolder while, around him, other pirate lords and princes were captured or killed by the guns of Task Force Manticore. Despite his wealth and growing power, Stede slowly became a serious and easily-angered man, a change many blame on his developing disease. When one of his grandsons tried to create a band of his own, Stede, mad with rage, beat him up to death with his bare fists. More and more, his plans became more direct, his adventures bringing more loses than gains to his crew. Quickly, many of his offspring realized something had to be done, otherwise they would all end up dead in the darkness of space. Decline and death After several failed assassination attempts, some of the most desperate sons fled to Ortus, ready to confess of their crimes and help the government deal with Stede in exchange of pardons. By that time however, admiral Shu Lin needed not the aid of traitors, as only a single, old ship and 70 crew remained of Stede's once glorious fleet. Still unwilling to take any chances, the admiral sent her whole squad of corvettes forth, eager to finally capture the pirate and bring him to justice. Maybe it was his last cunning plan, or the desperate move of a man knowing disease will provably kill him before the pirate hunters. Either way, Stede Backman actually ambushed and attacked Task Force Manticore, boarding Shu Lin's ship with those few loyalists who were now bown up in their pods while trying to reach the admiral's ship. Soon enough, a battle ensued in the tight spaces of the ship, range weapons soon becoming useless as pirates and crew members were forced to fight with knives, clubs, fists and whatever thing they could grab. Shu Lin herself traded a few blows with Stede himself, the pirate already covered with both his own blood and that of the men and women he had slain himself. Pushing the admiral to a corner, Stede's killing blow was interrupted by a crew member who pushed a broken piece of steel into his back. Roaring in anger, the pirate nearly severed the man's head with a blow from his blade, then quickly turned to face Shu Lin, ready to kill the admiral before he died. Instead, he was the one to be slain, as Shu Lin used the sharp point of her ceremonial admiral's staff to stab through the pirate's one-remaining eye. By the time the giant's body slammed into the deck, the few remaining pirates, no more than a dozen, had already thrown down their weapons, not wishing to follow their leader to death. While disappointed about Stede evading capture, Shu Lin nevertheless took the prisoners and their ship to Ortus, her victory being one of the last "battles" of the second golden age of piracy. Months later, those pirate captains who still remained either fled and died in the darkness of space, were assassinated by their own crews or surrendered to live another day. Category:Characters Category:Humans